The United States is a nation facing a profound and fundamental decision - Who are we going to be? The greatest threat to America's enduring legacy of self-determination, self-reliance, and personal responsibility is the people themselves. The crux of our democratic republic is an active, informed, and responsible citizenry. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." - Wendell Phillips

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Tyranny of the Fair Share

“Taxation follows public debt, and in its train wretchedness
and oppression”. - Thomas Jefferson

It is the arrogance of government, the current administration
in particular, to believe it knows better how to spend your money than you
do. Taxes are necessary, as government has
limited means of generating revenue and must fulfill certain constitutional duties. Since we are the beneficiaries of the results
produced by the fulfillment of these obligations, we are the ones that must
pay. And while areas like national
defense and infrastructure are and were intended to be in the realm of the federal
government, others like health insurance (Medicare and Obamacare), the administration
of retirement benefits (social security), and charity (food stamps, Medicaid,
and unemployment) never were. Our
national government was never meant to be the enormous bureaucratic nanny state
it has become.

“Where an excess of power
prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his
opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.”
- James Madison

Crisis is fertile soil in which government grows. In troubled times we turn to government as
the answer, the liege we empower to save us from ourselves. It gladly accepts this commission for it permits
them to set the price. In the end, that
which we sacrifice far outweighs any perceived solutions the government implements. Government is not efficient nor is it held
accountable, so in exchange for increased taxes they give us additional debt
spending, and in exchange for a false sense of hope or security they infringe
upon our liberties and freedoms. This is
all further evidence as to why government was meant to be and must be
restrained by the governed. A government
that provides limited services requires limited taxes, while big government
dishing out ever increasing entitlements and social programs necessitates continuously
escalating tribute. To perpetuate the façade
of being “taken care of” is expensive, not just in terms of cash but even more
so in terms of our prized freedom of self-determination.

Kicking the can down the road. While it is one of the most overused lines
today, it is an apt description of our government’s modus operandi. We don’t want to deal with the mess we have
allowed to happen. That would be
painful, and we do not like pain. So our
elected officials follow suit and select the path of least resistance and greatest
political prudence by adopting the strategy of trading the swift sting of a
quick Band-Aid pull for the long, constant swelling of a festering boil. We selfishly
postpone the inevitable so we do not have to deal with it, at least not
yet. We choose instead to elect
politicians that lead us headlong into the wall of financial disaster without
the slightest hint of hesitation. Is
ignorance bliss, because reality can be very inconvenient.

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from
those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” - Thomas
Jefferson

Knowing that our day of reckoning is rapidly approaching and
with it the unavoidable chore of having to make serious and politically
unpopular decisions, our current administration has decided on a tactic of
distraction versus dealing with the matter at hand. Their ace in the hole is the ever reliable and
easily incited emotion of envy. According
to them our country’s economic doldrums are the result of those making $250,000
a year or more not paying enough taxes. Forget such things as a shrinking tax base,
increasing government regulation, and a growing sense of victimization. No, it is the wealthy robbing the masses of
their legitimate chance at achievement through their own success and not paying
enough in taxes. While almost half of
Americans pay no income taxes as all, the only remedy to right our financial ship
is raising taxes on those they determine to be wealthy and vilify them as not
doing their fair share. I contend it is
the government that is the one not doing its fair share, though with no
incentive from the voting public to do so who can really blame them. While we all share in the services provided
by government, having someone else pay is always more palatable. Heaven forbid we do something as sensible as
widen the tax base or massively curtail wasteful government spending before we
go after the people already shouldering the majority of our economic burden.

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money,
that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power.”
- Benjamin Franklin

A Frenchman that visited America not long after the
Revolution predicted democracy would fail as the citizens realized they held
the purse strings and based their voting on who promised to give them the most forcing
the country into bankruptcy. Even though
we see multiple examples around the world today of what awaits us if we do not
address our growing and unsustainable addiction to government assistance; we
continue to do our best to ensure the Frenchman’s prophecy comes to fruition. Unfortunately, common sense isn’t quite so
common in America anymore. Time and
again we elect and reelect politicians that claim they have the answers to our
problems. Their solutions usually involve the
expenditure of more public money and the expansion of government. More government is never the answer nor does
it address our essential issue – irresponsibility. Debt is irresponsible, not taking control of
your own life is irresponsible, relinquishing our freedoms and liberties, the
very legacy of the United States, in order to be taken care of or address some politically
manufactured sense of entitlement is irresponsibility personified.

“We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity
is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
- Winston Churchill

We now face what should be a very simple decision;
unfortunately many will be persuaded by savvy political campaigns to complicate
it. The question is, who are we going to
be? Will we accept the patronizing belief
of the current administration, one ardently embraced by the Democratic Party, that
the individual is incapable handling of the rigors inherent with self-determination,
so the guiding hand of government the only possible solution. The choice means maintaining
the status quo of massive escalating national debt, cumbersome and intrusive
government, along with never ending citizen supplied funding in terms of taxes
and liberty. Regardless of the
propaganda peddling a utopian fantasy world where reality, responsibility, and
consequences have no bearing, the ultimate outcome is our economic ruin and
suppression. The alternative is to
support the reemergence of our essential belief in the individual and acceptance
that our lives are the result of our own actions and decisions. This choice will necessitate limiting government,
self-reliance, and embracing responsibility.
But the rewards are uncapped possibilities, restoration of our inalienable
rights, and the reemergence of the confidence and determination that made us the
greatest nation on the planet. Less
government reliance will lessen the necessary tax burden. Will we vote for the continued expansion of government,
or will we restrain government as our founders intended, limiting our tax liability
in the process while also freeing ourselves from the condescending constraints inherent
with a big government welfare state. May we rise to the challenge and reject
those with no faith in the American people, those that make it their mission to
spread doubt and discontent.

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation
of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful & tyrannical.” - Thomas
Jefferson

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